An Early Look At The 2014 Elections In Alabama

Even though Robert Bentley is just in his second year as Alabama’s governor, it has become most evident there will a “Riley candidate” for Governor in Alabama in 2014. The question is – who will it be? Many political observers had believed that former Gov. Bob Riley would be a candidate. But a recent poll revealed that Gov. Bentley wouldn’t just beat Riley in a potential 2014 contest for the GOP’s gubernatorial nomination – he would win by a landslide, or as the pollster put it, “by a country mile.” The poll found that 49.5% of Republican voters would choose Gov. Bentley compared to only 27.6% for Riley. There were 23.9% who said they would either vote for another candidate or were undecided. Perhaps the most interesting finding from the poll was Gov. Bentley’s 76% favorable rating.

While the results of the poll had to be discouraging for the Riley camp, several Capitol insiders don’t believe it will deter them in their efforts to make Bentley a one-term Governor. They say the intense dislike for the current Governor by some in the Riley camp will almost certainly guarantee him an opponent in 2014. But I suspect the poll results aren’t the only reason the Riley candidate won’t be Bob Riley. From reports, it appears the former Governor is making way too much money to give up his lobbying job. That leaves as potential gubernatorial candidates Rob Riley, House Speaker Mike Hubbard and former Senator Bradley Byrne who lost a tough race to Bentley in 2010.

The same Capitol insiders tell me the Riley camp has been working full time placing road blocks in the path of Bentley administration programs. If that’s true, shame on them. That sort of thing can’t be good for Alabamians. In any event, it will be most interesting to watch things progress as the path in Alabama to 2014 becomes clearer.